About Therapeutic Boarding Schools in Connecticut

Connecticut Residential Treatment Centers and Therapeutic Boarding Schools

Accreditation is optional for private schools, however it must be obtained for state approval. Although there are no official requirements for licensing, any private school that is not state approved and has students under the age of 5 must have a daycare license obtained through the Department of Public Health.

Teaching certificates are not required at private facilities, however, teachers at schools approved by the State Board of Education may obtain Provisional and Professional Educator Certificates. It is the responsibility of parents in Connecticut to ensure that their children are being instructed in reading, writing, spelling, English grammar, geography, arithmetic, and U.S. History. If a private school does not include these subjects in the curriculum, a parent “must show that the child is elsewhere receiving equivalent instruction in the studies taught in public schools.”

Private and parochial schools must maintain state approved sanitary conditions as well as be up to date on fire safety inspections. Communications regarding alcohol or drug abuse made by a student to a professional employee is privileged communication at the discretion of the employee and is immune from criminal or civil liability.

Connecticut law states that physical force is justifiable when exercised by a teacher who has been entrusted with the care and supervision of a minor for school purposes. Force is allowed when protecting him/herself or other students from harm or to obtain possession of a dangerous instrument. It is not allowed for disciplinary purposes.

Employees of a nonpublic school are required to report and turn over physical evidence to school officials or law enforcement when a crime has been or is being committed. The employee is not required to disclose the name of the student from whom the evidence was obtained.

Reference: http://www2.ed.gov